This content was published: July 17, 2001. Phone numbers, email addresses, and other information may have changed.
PCC Wins National Workforce Training Award
Photos and story by James Hill
PORTLAND, Ore. – The U.S. Department of Labor and the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) announced recently that Portland Community College has earned an award for its local and statewide role as a leader, partner and provider in workforce development. The 2001 AACC/DOL Workforce Development Award carries a $10,000 stipend that the college will use to develop systems to help students transition from short-term training programs to mainstream academic programs at the college. This is the second time in two years that the college has been acknowledged by the national groups for its workforce development work. In 1999, the Department of Labor and AACC tabbed it as having the best community college dislocated worker program in the nation."This new award not only spotlights PCC’s role as a leader in providing services, but also for its role in designing and implementing workforce development in the Portland metropolitan area,"said Nan Poppe, dean of adult and continuing education for the college. Poppe and Kate Dins, director of PCC’s Workforce Development program, will accept the award for the college at the Joint Employment and Training Technology Conference in Baltimore, Md., on Sunday, July 15. George Boggs, president of AACC, and Ray Uhalde and Lenita Jacobs-Simmons, deputy assistant secretaries at the Department of Labor, will give a $10,000 check.PCC will use the award money to further its vision of creating a seamless system that allows entry-level workers to obtain the college credentials necessary for career advancement and higher wages. New curriculum will be created in two high-demand fields, information technology and health care, that will allow workers to blend work and school. Three other colleges won the award in addition to PCC. They include Kirkwood Community College (Cedar Rapids, Iowa), Community Colleges of Denver (Colorado) and Brevard Community College (Cocoa, Fla.).Poppe is a resident of southwest Portland while Dins lives in southeast Portland.
About James Hill
James G. Hill, an award-winning journalist and public relations writer, is the Director of Public Relations at Portland Community College. A graduate of Portland State University, James has worked as a section editor for the Newberg Graphic... more »